Monday 26 March 2018

KV-85 Turret Upgrade

"To the Chief of the GBTU Tank Directorate, Major-General of the Tank Engineering Service, comrade Afonin

The senior military representative of the GBTU at the Kirov Factory, Engineer-Lieutenant-Colonel Markin reported the following to me on August 31st over radio, 1943 (via comrade Davidenko).

A number of mistakes were made in the KV-85 blueprints, which resulted in the following:
  1. Fuel tanks could not be installed (had to be manually trimmed to fit).
  2. It was impossible to install an assisting pump (a wobble pump was installed instead).
  3. A Vortox air filter was installed instead of a Multicyclone.
  4. The shutters cannot be installed.
  5. The elevation mechanism was shifted by 35 mm.
  6. The telescopic sight is obstructed.
  7. The machinegun mount is right up against the side of the casing.
  8. Factory #9 did not supply counterweights for the gun (old counterweights are used).
  9. The periscopic sight is obstructed by 15%.
  10. The elevation angle is reduced to 20 degrees, the depression angle is reduced to 3 degrees.
  11. The turning mechanism bed is tilted.
  12. No recoil guard is installed.
  13. The rain cover cannot be installed due to the incorrect shape of the gun mantlet.
  14. The ammunition racks are placed as convenient, instead of according to blueprints.
  15. Installation of electric equipment also had to be done improperly, as the blueprints have mistakes and a number of inconsistencies.
Details are sent over mail. I ordered that the blueprints be corrected immediately.

Continue the acceptance process only after defects have been corrected. On the six tanks that have already been built, correct the defects following the factories' proposals.

Chief of the 1st Departmetn of the GBTU TU, Engineer-Lieutenant-Colonel Yegorov."

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